Never Again
by Pink Pagoda
Summary: Their eyes met, and time seemed to halt. One was frozen, swimming in a sea of unwanted emotions, while the other met his gaze with unclear confusion. “I’m sorry, you must be mixing me up with someone else. My name is Sarra.”
1. Chapter 1

They were on their way to Munich after just nearly diffusing the problem of the uranium bomb. The brothers had decided to take a break, and try to live a life for themselves. Noah had left them a few days before only uttering words of eventual future meetings.

Now only a few hours away from their destination, Ed was starting to get worked up again. He was never sure why he did it to himself. He finally the chance to relax, and he decided to ignore it like usual. Next to him Alphonse was snoring lightly. Pulling out his watch, which bitterly reminding him of his old one, Ed realized how late it was and attempted to join his sibling in slumber. He told himself that he would only close his eyes for a little while, but that was all it took for him to drift into dreamland.

A few hours later, the Elric brothers were violently jolted awake by the halt of forward motion. Quietly rousing, they cautiously made their way off the wagon they had unceremoniously, and unknown to the driver, hitched a ride on. Once they were out of hearing range, Alphonse spoke.

"Brother, where should we stay tonight? I mean, it's a little too late to check into a-"his pleas were cut off by his ever stubborn brother.

"Al, don't worry about it, I'll make it happen. I don't care if everywhere is closed. We'll find a place to stay. I have a plan…" Edward boldly stated this fact barely registering that he had no such thing.

Burdened by lack of sleep, the two brothers wandered down the lonely main street of the desolate town. When asked about his daring plan, Edward only shrugged his shoulders, signalling to his brother that he had never had one in the first place. Sighing, Alphonse could only follow Edward as they continued onwards.

Eventually, Edward managed to find one open Inn on the outskirts of the town. Well, it wasn't exactly open before Edward pounded on the door. Although his brash behaviour and demanding demeanour were the qualities that provided them with a room for the night, Alphonse couldn't help but wonder how Edward was related to him. Calmly following his fatigue stricken brother up the stairs, Alphonse couldn't help but analyze his appearance. Edward had shadows under his eyes that had been there long before the long night they had just had.

As they got ready for bed, Alphonse continued to watch his brother carefully. Edward pulled off his gloves, and then began to remove his coat. This process continued, and while Edward took off his shirt, Alphonse couldn't help but make a small, involuntary gasp at the sight of his brother's torso. Yes, Edward's skin was marled with countless scars and bruises from years of a battle hardened life, but Alphonse was more concerned with the fact that he could see this harshly abused being stretched further than it could manage. It was a well known fact between the two of them that they had little money to spare, but there at least was always enough food to eat. Thinking back, Alphonse couldn't remember a time when his brother had skipped a meal, so refusing to eat couldn't be the issue.

Still lost in thought, Alphonse was roused by Edward's inquisitive voice. "Alphonse, what's the matter with you? Don't you want to sleep at all tonight?"

This being said, Alphonse replied quickly with a soft, "Yes, goodnight brother." Not wanting to arouse suspicion, Alphonse quickly lay down and pretended to sleep, avoiding any further conversation.

This however only managed to make Edward frown, but all thoughts of confusion were lost as he once again let his mind drift into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Those two brothers…they were definitely the ones. The ones from her dream that is. It was strange, she thought, that she should dream about two boys that she had yet to meet. Her mother had told her that is was normal to dream about someone after they had met. Was it normal to dream about someone, actually two people, whom she had never seen in her life?

Sarra was actually from a strange group of people in her world. She was what many others called a gypsy. At this time gypsies were scorned and treated like dirt so Sarra always tried to hide the fact that she was one. Her mother had been the band's foreteller, and like her mother, Sarra was supposed to be the next one. Unfortunately, there was a slight problem when her mother died so suddenly. Some of the elders did not think that Sarra was capable of taking on such a responsibility. Now Sarra is practically on the run. She is an outcast.

Thinking back to the dream she'd had, Sarra wondered why those boys were in it. Lost in thought, Sarra failed to notice that the sun had risen and that right now, two boys were headed in her direction.

Ed walked out into sunshine gloating at his brother.

"Ya see. I told you I'd find a place for us to sleep. Now weren't those beds just so comfortable."

"I guess so brother." Al responded sounding just a touch annoyed. "But it did take us awhile to find this place. Are you sure that you knew what you were doing last night?"

"Of course I did, Al. Come on, this way to the food. I would smell it anywhere." With that Ed walked around the corner of the street right into someone.

Whoever it was, they had quite a few items that seemed to go everywhere. One of the items rolled towards Al who stopped it with his foot. He picked it up carefully.

"Brother, what is th…"

"That's mine." A soft voice interrupted Al's question.

"I'm sorry 'bout that. I didn't mean to…" Ed stopped the moment the figure lifted their head.

"It's alright, really. I should have been paying more attention. The figure stood up and offered their hand to Ed. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, you're sitting on some of my things." Ed jumped up quickly and backed away slightly, almost into Al.

"Winry?" Ed asked slowly, unsure if that was who he was looking at. Ed looked at this girl, studying her from head to toe. Long blond hair, large green eyes, tall…wait…green eyes thought Ed, Winry had blue eyes didn't she.

"I'm sorry, you must be mixing me up with someone else. My name is Sarra." The girl responded as she bent down to pick up her things. It didn't really take long but she needed the time to collect herself. "This girl, though, Winry, does she look like me?" asked Sarra when she'd finished picking up her things. Ed nodded, still stunned. Sarra indicated to Al, who was still holding the ball.

"May I?" she asked. Realizing what she was asking, Al quickly handed the ball to her.

"Of…of course."

"Thank you." Sarra took the ball in her hands and closed her eyes. "What is this girl's name."

"W…Winry Rockbell" stuttered Ed. Suddenly, Ed and Al gasped. There was Winry, standing, laughing at the two of them, not even three feet away.


End file.
